Guizhou’s 20th Tourism Industry Development Conference Kicks Off, Boosting Mountain Tourism Boom

With green mountains like daisy and all things thriving, more than 600 guests from across the globe recently gathered in Guiyang to attend the 20th Guizhou Tourism Industry Development Conference. During the event, over a thousand hikers crossed the "Most Beautiful Ridge Line of Guiyang", while top global teams staged a "speed and passion" show among the karst peaks and forests.

When mountains meet sports and ecology integrates into experiences, Guizhou is transforming the "magnificence and danger" of its karst landforms into a "heartfelt destination" for outdoor enthusiasts worldwide, showing boundless vitality. Today, this land is playing a "triple movement" of mountain tourism formats, services and brands around the three elements of resources, services and brands.

"The mountains in Guizhou used to be ‘obstacles’, but now they are ‘guides’," said Chen Gang, founder and CEO of Mafengwo, at the Guizhou Cross-border Tourism Promotion Conference. He noted that Guizhou’s new-generation tourism market is shifting from "resource-driven" to "experience-driven", and "gameplay" is becoming the new competitiveness of Guizhou’s mountains.

According to People’s Network, as the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" takes root in people’s hearts, Guizhou has keenly captured the rise of mountain tourism and outdoor sports, launching a in-depth renewal to "activate" mountain tourism resources. At the Shuanghe Karst Cave Scenic Area in Suiyang County, Zunyi City, the cave is no longer a simple walking attraction but a secret place for "underground exploration", attracting scientific research and caving enthusiasts worldwide.

At the 24 Turns of Qinglong, the historical bends interweave with the wheels of Guizhou "GT" off-road vehicles, and a "Stilwell Road" off-road race brings history to "life" on site. Cliff coffee, via ferrata, cave concerts... These once unfamiliar terms are becoming new labels for Guizhou tourism. Mafengwo data shows that the reading volume of guides related to "Guizhou outdoor exploration" has increased by 150% this year, and "Guizhou parent-child hiking" has become a popular search term on Xiaohongshu.

If the beautiful landscapes are Guizhou’s "hard power" in tourism, warm services are the "soft power" for its sustainable development and the cornerstone of building the reputation of the "Colorful Guizhou" brand. According to Xinhua News Agency, a variety of smart cultural and tourism "black technologies" displayed at the conference will be applied to scenic spots, undertaking material distribution and garbage collection to solve the "last mile" problem of cultural and tourism services in mountainous areas.

In Huangguoshu Scenic Area, a big data-based intelligent dispatching system can predict peak passenger flow in advance, automatically guide traffic diversion, and push waiting information to tourists via App. Guizhou’s official cultural and tourism service platform "One Code Tour Guizhou" has been upgraded, realizing "three-second review, one-time certification and free travel across the province" for preferential groups.

Guizhou also vigorously develops "small car and small group" tourism services, optimizing product systems such as "small car and small group" and "point-to-point flights" to provide customized routes and stop-at-will in-depth experiences. To forge the "Colorful Guizhou" brand, Guizhou is extending its connotation from natural scenery to cultural and creative products, performances and food, with "Qianzhen" series cultural and creative products and food IPs such as "Guizhou Sour Fish" gaining popularity.

Five hundred years ago, Wang Yangming wrote that "the mountains under heaven gather in Yunnan and Guizhou". Today, Guizhou is no longer just a place of gathered mountains, but has become a desired destination for global mountain tourism and outdoor sports through the systematic layout of resources, services and brands.